Letters To and From a Stranger
By: g0ldensnidget, a.k.a. Snitch
Author's notes: ok, folks... here it is, the long-awaited double-date chapter. In this chapter you will find Harry and Ron's personal accounts of what happened on a certain double date between the infamous foursome: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. First letter from Harry, second from Ron. I hope you aren't expecting too much hilariousness; this was a hard chappie to write. Took me 3 tries, but I hope I got it ok now... Ready? Here it is... *drum roll................ gong!*
By the way – this chapter is dedicated (though she doesn't know it) to my eldest sister Noa, who got married this Tuesday!! Congrats, Noa!! The wedding was beautiful.
(Letter XIII)
Dear Rose, 23/9/1996
Well, we did it. Ron and I made it through the dates. Hermione is now officially Ron's girlfriend, and Ginny's my girlfriend. It was kind of awkward as the subject came up
Hang on. I'll tell you this from the beginning.
Ron and I met Hermione and Ginny at the bottom of the staircase in the Gryffindor Common Room. Everybody was shy and nobody spoke too much. We took a carriage to the village and got a table at The Three Broomsticks, and I ordered a round of Buterbeer for us all. We talked for a while, the four of us... For some reason, we all felt depressed.
So we walked outside, and we sat on a bench in the town square. At first we just sat there, also quiet. And then, Hermione started talking to Ginny about exams. Ron and I looked at each other with our jaws nearly hanging open. They were on a date, and Hermione starts talking to Ginny about school? And then Ginny said, "Hermione, it's the first weekend of school. Must you talk about exams?" Ron and I started laughing this time. "Besides," Ginny went on, "we both have dates." That shut me and Ron up. Hermione seemed shocked too. Then she turned to Ron and said, "Well, she's right. We do have dates. Only they don't seem up to doing anything much..."
That seemed to push Ron over the edge. The edge of sanity, as it were. He stood up, grabbed her hand, said, "Aw, shut up, 'Mione. Let's go," and dragged her off. Leaving me with Ginny. At first we both sat there staring at Ron dragging Hermione into a store – and it wasn't Honeydukes. Then we looked at each other. And then we burst out laughing. We just sat there and laughed our asses off. Somehow, we ended up coiled around each other, half on the ground half on the bench. Then Ginny gave this little wriggle, and we untangled... and I landed on my ass on the ground. She took one look at me and started giggling like mad again. I sat there, looking at her with a very sour look on my face, as she told me later. Somehow when she finished her giggling, she ended up in my lap. So we were both on the ground – which was none too warm, it's the middle of September, for crying out loud – laughing together. After a while, we wiped the tears out of our eyes and took a good look at each other.
Suddenly, we both felt shy again. I didn't want to repeat what had already happened, so I said, "You – um – look nice." And she smiled and said, "Thank you Harry. You also look – well –" she ruffled my hair "–shaggy." She smiled at me... and I smiled at her... and we leaned in towards each other...
And we kissed. It wasn't like I kissed Cho, all sloppy and wet, but sweet, kind of soft... And it tasted of strawberry, because of Ginny's lipgloss. I suddenly noticed that she'd started wearing make-up – just a little bit: a bit of blue eye-shadow, and some lipgloss. She really is beautiful, Rose. How did I miss her all these years?
After kissing for a bit on the bench, we headed back for a hot drink, but not the Three Broomsticks – just one of the local cafés. I bought myself a cup of coffee and a cup of hot chocolate. She doesn't like coffee. After a few cups of hot drinks we left, heading back up to the castle. Ginny took my hand and lead me ... to the Astronomy Tower. That is THE place for snogging. And snog we did. Sounds childish, I know, but we kissed, a lot.
We got back to Gryffindor Tower after midnight. The Fat Lady's eyes nearly popped out, we had to nearly shout the password at her before she let us in. I kissed her goodnight, just like you said, at the staircase, and she blushed and giggled and went upstairs, where I promptly heard more giggles and muffled shrieks.
So what started as a double date ended in separate snog sessions, I suppose... anyway, thanks. Never would have happened without you.
Thank you, again,
Harry.
~~~~~
Dear Rose,
So, we went on the double date, me and Harry and Hermione and Ginny. Harry and I paced the dormitory a good few times together before the date. We met Hermione and Ginny in the Common Room and from there we went together to Hogsmade. At first we went to The Three Broomsticks, but we just sat there drinking Buterbeer, too tense or shy to talk. Then after a while Ginny suggested we go outside. We sat on a bench for some time, and nobody spoke there either.
And then Hermione leans over and starts talking to Ginny about exams! The nerve... Well, at leas Ginny was a bit decent – she said, "Hermione, it's the first weekend of school. Must you talk about exams? Besides, we both have dates." You should have seen Harry blush. I suppose I was also pretty red. Hermione turned to me and said, "Well, she's right. We do have dates. Only they don't seem up to doing anything much..."
I supposed it kind of snapped. I stood up, grabbed her hand, and I pulled her up, saying, "Aw, shut up, 'Mione." I pulled her away from Harry and Ginny – so that they could have some time alone, and so that we could also. I took her to some shops – and no, they weren't sweet shops or Quidditch shops – and she bought a few things, and after that we went to one of the small cafés somewhere in the middle of the village. It was really fun; we sat and talked and laughed about all kinds of stuff, and Hermione even managed to go for the whole of her 2 cups of chocolate without mentioning school. I'm kind of amazed we had anything to talk about; with her, it's always school and with me it always seems to be Quidditch.
By the time we'd run out of stuff to talk about, we'd also run out drinks. I kind of twisted my cup around, hoping to get a bit of the coffee foam, and when I came out I had a smudge of it on my nose. I went to wipe it off with my hand, but Hermione moved to sit next to me. She took my hand under the table, and she wiped off the foam with the other. She then held up her finger to my mouth, with this chunk of coffee foam at the end, waiting. I leaned in, and I licked it off her finger...
And then she leaned in also, and we ... we kissed. We kissed, Rose. At first it was kind of shy, mouths closed and eyes open... Then I opened my mouth a bit... and so did she ... she closed her eyes... and we kissed some more... She's a good kisser.
We got out of the café, and we took a carriage back to Hogwarts. We went right past the Great Hall, where everybody was starting on dinner, and right up... to the Prefects' bathroom. You wouldn't believe. We sat right down (without even locking the door, as we found out later) and we started kissing again. Notice we took your advice and waited until we were away from Harry and Ginny... I wonder how they turned out.
So Hermione and I are kissing in the prefects' bathroom, and then the door opens. And who should be standing there, if not Malfoy? Yep, Malfoy. Right away, Hermione stood up and pointed her wand at him. "Hello, Draco," she said pleasantly, as if him walking on us kissing would be an everyday-experience, "How are you today?" "Quite well, Granger, thank you," he said, taking out his wand and pointing it at her. And then he looked at me and said, "Never thought you had it in you, Weasley. Did you have to bribe her for a kiss? Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't have anything to bribe her with, would you?"
I would have beaten the (Author's Note: I'd insert a very rude word here, this being Ron, but I promised no swearing, so...) living daylights out of that piece of (Author's Note: again...) filth, but Hermione seemed to beat me to it, verbally. "Leave him out of this, Draco. And don't even think of telling anybody, you don't want anybody knowing about your little night here, do you?"
Malfoy turned so pale I thought Hermione had transfigured him and he'd started turning into a white ferret again. He cleared his throat after a minuet and said, "I don't think I have the slightest idea what you mean, Granger. I'll leave you and Weasley to your snog session. And I don't think I want to endanger anybody else with losing their lunch, so don't worry." And he left.
Turns out, Malfoy's also had a few moments in the Prefects' bathroom with a certain Ravenclaw sixth year... Hermione told me all about it. That said, I don't think Malfoy's still thinking about telling.
Well, I'd like to thank you, Rose, for giving me that push I needed to ask Hermione out. She's agreed to be my girlfriend and we'll be going out whenever we can find some time between homework...
Ever in your debt,
Ron.
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Author's note: well folks, there it was. Hope you like it; I spent quite a lot of time on it, trying to get it juuuuuuuusst right. I suppose it turned out ok, I especially liked Ron and Hermione's bathroom-trip... Ron's letter was funner to write than Harry's... It sounds kind of far-fetched, I know, but that's what made it fun!! I really had a blast writing this, so you have my most sincere apologies if you didn't enjoy... :-/
Anyway, I've decided not to post my Legolas-fic until I've gotten at least 5 chapters down... I'm 2½ short. I'll get to it in some time; I'm sure that by New Year's Eve I'll have posted the first chapter at least...
Last of all, thanks to all those of you who waited patiently for this chapter. Also, thanks for all the kind wishes for my sister!
Reviewers' response:
Sirius' Diamond – really sorry, FF.Net decided to be a bitch and posted the 12th letter instead of the introduction, deleting it completely. I had to upload it again, and replace the chapters and rearrange their order 5 times over... in the end all I got was one big headache, but I got the story back together and it's ok now.
bluehoax – hee-hee, holy guacamole... I used to use that too, once when I was smaller... ai, I'm getting nostalgic here. And as for eating cheese... I don't like cheese. Only yellow cheese, and that's quite full of fat so I try to stay off... I don't like white cheese. I get enough calcium. It's iron I'm short on – yeah, I'm anemic.
Topaz Waters – love your name, btw. I checked out your story (read it some days ago before school, lol) and you know what? – we do write somewhat alike. Your story's pretty cool, keep going! If you ever need any help or advice, don't hesitate to ask!!
Amiana and La'jizika – yep, never been on a [real] date in my life. True, I'm 14 (and 3 months!!), but I'm pretty much of a geek – and I'm not all that drop-dead-gorgeous, either. None of my friends like me for how I look (*blinks* That didn't sound too good.), they all appreciate my personality... don't ask me why. Lol! Congrats on getting your black belt, Ami!! You kick ass! I personally prefer drama, though.
flyingfireworks – as you can see above, I'm not posting till I've got 5 chapters. New Year's, I suppose.
DarkSlytherinAngel – yeah, kiss on the cheek... *sigh...*
Princess Phoenix – hope you liked... did this satisfy you? I certainly had a good time writing it... took me a while, I know, but I got it here, eventually, didn't I? ^_~
ksantipa – tell me, ksantipa, what does you name mean? It sounds really familiar – I know I've heard it somewhere... is it Greek or Roman?
Well, anyway, you kind of blew me off-course with your review – I couldn't understand some of if (my computer was being a bitch, as usual...) but anyway... ah screw it, I don't know what to say to you. I suppose we could be friends, a lot of my friends watched Rebelde Way and Chikititas, and Take Me Sharon. About popularity.... I didn't quite understand – are you considered popular in your school? If so, what the Hell are you doing here? No insult intended; it's just that from what I see, all the popular kids are always out with their friends or hanging out, not looking for Harry Potter stories on the internet.
Also - you ask why I bother with homework? Well, I'll tell you why, it's because I care about my studies. I want to get into a decent high-school (as if there is one here...) with decent grades, and get good Bagrut results and get a good Bagrut Certificate, and a good job. I do my homework because I care about me. So I also don't think you're in any place to be demanding that I update; I, unlike somebody, do my homework, and I also have my fair share of stress and personal problems to deal with, thank you very much.
Oh. I just read back what I wrote, and I've been such a bitch. Ai, never mind. I don't think I'll ever understand myself, so there's absolutely no use whatsoever for you to try and understand me.
p.s.
I just looked up 'ksantipa'. You know who she was? She was Socrates, the Greek (or was he Ronam?) philosopher's wife, and she was a bitch. Very clever; smart and sophisticated, but an evil witch, feared and despised by many.
Amiana – ooh, excellent, another drama groupie! And as for time zones... you're in the US, right? Well, that's about... 7 or 8 hours apart from us... so... when you're back from school, I'm either having dinner or just waking up.
Fireblade K'Chona – thanks, it's the thought that counts.
M. J. Kobayashi – yeah, stressing. But it was worth it – the wedding was beautiful, and I didn't go to school the day after! ^_~
melissaL – new chapter's up... tell me what you think.